BloomingKids mentors local children

Sitting on the ground around Showalter Fountain, IU students await the arrival of their "little buddies" with smiles on their faces and anticipation in their eyes. When the bus full of elementary school students pulls up, a swarm of kids runs off and starts wandering around the fountain until each finds his or her "big buddy" and is greeted with a warm hug. They all know this afternoon they're going to learn more than academics. \nSophomore Jimmy Springston sees the kids walking around campus on his way to class.\n"When I see how much fun they're having and how happy they are to be here, I just can't help but to smile."\nBloomingKids is a statewide program held on college campuses allowing elementary school students to come to campus once a week. Third through fifth graders pair up with an IU student to spend the afternoon hanging out, playing games and learning about academics, community service and culture. \n"Each of the kids really benefits from this program because they get the chance to do stuff on campus that they may not normally be exposed to," junior Chris Grindle said. \nGrindle is the external president of BloomingKids. He deals with elementary school principals, community partners and the state office in Indianapolis to make sure the program is run efficiently. \nThe internal president, junior Matt O'Brien deals strictly with the BloomingKids mentors and kids to make sure each time they meet, everything runs smoothly. \n"We work together ... and neither one of us really worries what title we have with the program," Grindle said. \nBloomingKids serves a total of 60 students from Fairview and Unionville elementary schools. \nBoth college mentors and kids agree on the benefits of this program. \n"I think I help my buddy, E.L.," senior Kyra Busch said. "It's a neat program because I wouldn't be able to meet him if I wasn't involved in the program, and he wouldn't get the chance to run around campus and meet older people." \nThe elementary school students also enjoy their opportunity to be involved with BloomingKids. \n"I like going to different places and figuring out different cultures," E.L. said. "The campus scavenger hunt was my favorite part."\nDyona, another Unionville student, agreed with E.L. \n"It's fun because we get to do a lot of activities," she said.\nThe IU students involved in BloomingKids said they enjoy working with kids through this program because they feel it's a good way to be involved with helping out on campus. \n"I got started with BloomingKids because I wanted to get more involved on campus and it's a good way to meet other college students and the kids too," sophomore Betsy Maxheimer said. "It's just a fun thing to do. I like everything about the program." \nEach of the mentors has an obligation to plan at least one event per semester for the students. \n"It doesn't take up too much time since everyone only has to plan once through the whole semester," Maxheimer said. "So, it's not too bad." \nEach program has to be either academic, cultural or community service related. \nFor example, the Thursday before Halloween, kids made cards to hand out to IU students as a community service project. \n"We try to teach them to give back to the community as much as we can, along with teaching the culture and academic stuff too," Grindle said.\nAlthough each elementary school student already has a big buddy to hang out with for the year, mentors agree the program can still use help.\nBloomingKids is not funded by the school, but the program depends on the mentors to raise $15,000 a year to operate the program efficiently. This is one of the only programs that provides free transportation to students and is provided at no cost to the parents. \n"A lot of people want to be involved in the program even though they don't get to be a mentor," Grindle said.\nTo raise money, BloomingKids plans many fund-raising events through the entire year, including five this semester. \n"Some of these include a magazine sale, lollipop sale and holiday gift wrapping event. We are always looking for support," O'Brien said. \nBoth the IU students and the elementary school students agree the program is beneficial, as well as enjoyable.\n"I've only been doing BloomingKids for three weeks, but every week is a new experience. It's not just about us, but the community as a whole," Busch said. "It's just fun to learn from each other and about each other every week." \nAgreeing with Busch, her little buddy E.L. said, "I like coming on campus because there are a lot of cool buildings. There's always something fun for us to do while we're here and I like hanging out with my new friends."\n-- Contact staff writer Nellie Summerfield at nsummerf@indiana.edu.